Canada's Aurelie Rivard adds another world record to her collection

Canada's Aurelie Rivard set a world record in the S10 200-metre freestyle on Thursday at the Berlin world para-swimming world series.

The country's top para-swimmer finished in two minutes, 10.98 seconds, lowering the old mark of 2:11.17 set by France's Elodie Lorandi in August 2016.

"I was aiming for that record for a year and a half," Rivard said. "I'm happy I finally got it.

"We got here two days ago and I'm still very jet-lagged. I was not expecting to break the world record [but] I'll take it."

The 21-year-old native of St-Jean-Sur-Richelieu, Que., already holds the world records in the 50 and 100 freestyle, both set at last year's Paralympic Games where she won three gold and a silver medal.

The 200 freestyle isn't a Paralympic event. Rivard set the old Canadian record of 2:12.58 last July at the Speedo Can Am para-swimming championships in Gatineau, Que.

"I don't really train for it," Rivard said. "It's kind of like a long sprint. The last few weeks I have been focusing on the events I have here. I have been doing a lot more quality in the pool. I always swim fast when I get off the continent. I had people to race next to me and it pushed me during the race."

Vince Mikuksa, senior coach with Swimming Canada's Paralympic program, said Rivard swam a smart race. "She executed exactly what she said she would do," he said.

"She had a great last 50 [metres] which I think sets her up for the rest of the meet." 

The Berlin meet features multi-class finals. Winners in each race are determined by a points system depending on a swimmer's class. A swimmer with a slower time can win a race on points even if they are from another class. In Rivard's race, she had Oliwia Jablonski, an S10 swimmer from Poland in one lane near her and German S12 swimmer Maike Schnittger in another.